Jefferson Parish Council members are
expected to vote on leasing the parish's two public hospitals to a private
operator this month after two public hearings. The first is Monday night at the General Government Building in Gretna. The second is Dec. 17 at the Yenni Building in Elmwood. Both meetings start at 6 and are scheduled to last two hours.

But it's
uncertain exactly how the vote will proceed. Initially the council was
expected to select a single operator from the three finalists - Louisiana
Children's Medical Center, Hospital Corp. of America and Ochsner Health System
- and negotiate a final lease.

Such a vote may still happen, but
other possibilities have emerged in recent months. For example, the parish's consultant,
Skokie, Ill.-based Kaufman Hall & Associates, Inc., has recommended
allowing the West Jefferson Medical Center and East Jefferson General Hospital
boards to part ways and lease to their preferred operators - West Jefferson
wants Children's, East Jefferson endorses HCA. Council members Paul Johnston,
Cynthia Lee-Sheng and Ben Zahn support this idea. Another idea, put forth last
week by Inspector General David McClintock, is to negotiate binding leases with
multiple operators with the intent of selecting a single one for both
hospitals.

What do you think? Are any of these
ideas worthwhile? Should council members start over? Should they scrap the idea altogether? Let us know your thoughts with the poll in this post, or in the comments section below. We also encourage you to share any questions you'd like answered as the process moves forward.

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://polldaddy.com/poll/7631896/"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;What is the best strategy for leasing West Jefferson Medical Center and East Jefferson General Hospital?&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;